Nigel Farage has said he is “thoughtful” about the idea of bringing Shamima Begum back to the UK. Begum’s high profile court case to return to the UK after she fled to Syria to join ISIS in 2015 resulted in the courts refusing to overturn the decision made in 2019 to revoke her citizenship.
But during an interview with ITV on Friday Reform UK leader Farage said while it goes against his instincts he is not against the idea. It comes after comments from Donald Trump’s terror chief Seb Gorka who said ISIS members could be allowed to return to the US, reports The Express.
Speaking to ITV, after being asked about whether he believed Begum should be allowed to return to the UK, Farage said: “I’ve never wanted to. I’ve instinctively never wanted to. But I’m now thoughtful, I’m thoughtful. I don’t classify her as an ISIS, an all out ISIS killer. So she’s sort of less… She is a lesser part of the equation.
“It’s very difficult for us to think we should take back people, Shamima Begum and others, and instinctively, instinctively, it’s not something I want to do. Gorka argues that if we and other European countries don’t take back these people and put them in prison here, they will get out of prison under the new Syrian regime, leading to a problem that in the end we may all have to fight.”
She had been an ISIS bride, joining at the age of just 15, and has since had three children who have all died
(Image: BBC)
In December Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad’s rule came to an end when Islamist rebel groups launched an offensive, sweeping through major cities before taking the capital Demascus. Begum has been detained at the al-Roj detention camp in Syria since 2015. She had been an ISIS bride, joining at the age of just 15, and has since had three children who have all died.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy rejected calls from Trump’s team to repatriate Begum on Friday. He said: “Shamima Begum will not be coming back to the UK. It’s gone right through the courts. She’s not a UK national. We will act in our security interests. And many of those in those camps are dangerous, are radicals.”